This article was first published in First Voice. Written by George Hughes, Founder and Creative Director, Small Films.
Whether you want to tell a powerful story, make your audience laugh, or show them that you understand the challenges they are facing and that you have the solution, there are few mediums as effective as video. Video marketing can generate a huge return on investment, so if you haven’t explored this tactic yet, you are missing a trick. Here’s how to go about it.
Understand your audience
Creating content that resonates with your audience means understanding who they are and what makes them tick. From there, you can begin to identify ideas for videos that are likely to draw attention to your brand.
Trying to relate to everyone is not going to cut it – the people in your target audience will have certain characteristics in common: demographics, shared interests or behaviours. The most effective content will feel like it’s speaking directly to them and not be broad or generalist.
According to MediaPost, 68%of teenagers regularly shop via their smartphones, and 63% of millennials do so every day. Online fashion group, Boohoo, has taken this knowledge and focused almost entirely on digital and video content that will lead to high levels of engagement.
Create emotive and meaningful content
One of the best ways to connect is to create content that evokes an emotional response. Whether it makes them laugh, cry or think more deeply, you will stir emotions in the viewer, which will make your videos more memorable and talked about.
In 2014, a feminine hygiene brand, Always, produced a video titled ‘Like a Girl’, designed to drive conversation around women’s self-esteem and featuring women talking about what the phrase means to them. The film, which is an emotional watch and has a powerful message, went viral, with over 90 million views and 4.4 billion media impressions.
Personalise your videos
Although you want your videos to engage with a large number of people, it is crucial to remember that every person who watches them is unique.
If you want to produce content that resonates with individual viewers, you need to think about what you can do to give your videos a more personal touch. Create a story that strikes a chord with them. Feature characters just like them and show the challenges that your audience faces in their day-to-day lives.
With so many marketers vying for consumers’ attention, being able to personalise your content to make it feel like you are speaking to viewers on an individual basis will help you to stand apart from the crowd.
Don’t be afraid to experiment
There are many different ways to use video to connect with audiences. Having a sense of what interests your audience, what makes them tick, and what is likely to catch their eye are all key components in making the most specific and impactful content. This will help you to personalise your videos further and give them the emotional ‘oomph’ needed to get under your viewers’ skin.
The possibilities for connecting with audiences via video are virtually limitless for brands daring enough to experiment with the format. George Hughes is also a published author of Resonance: Unleash your brand’s potential with video.